Two arrested after spate of Worcester car fires

Fire fighters struggled to get their fire engine to one of the Worcester incidents due to parked cars blocking the road and have pleaded with motorists to be more considerate.

Two men, both from Worcester, have been arrested in connection with the fires, which are being treated as arson. They remain in custody.

The first incident happened at around 1.21am, where a car was set alight in Lowell Street in Worcester. At around 2am a further two cars, in Lansdowne Crescent were believed to be set alight. A fourth car had been set alight in Liverpool Road at around 2.50am.

Detective Inspector Tony Garner, from Worcester CID, said: "Our investigation is in its early stages and detectives will be carrying out further enquiries into all of these incidents. If anyone witnessed any of the fires, or suspicious activity in or around Lowell Street, Lansdowne Street and Liverpool Road in Worcester please get in contact with us."

Firefighters extinguished the fires. No-one was injured in any of the incidents but the fire service tweeted yesterday: "We had difficulty accessing an incident this morning near Lowell Street Worcester due to parked cars, please think about access for our fire engines, what if we were coming to you and our crews were delayed by poor parking in your area?"

Gaynor White a Lowell Street resident said it was "not surprising" that the fire service struggled as parked cars are a problem in the area: "There is nowhere else for us to park. There isn't enough parking for us. These streets are narrow anyway, what else can we do? Then there are people parking here who have no right to. I have people parking outside my house who don't even live in the area.

I have a mobility scooter and an access bay which I can't ever use, I'm surprised I don't scratch peoples cars trying to get round them. We need some way of stopping outsiders parking here."

Mrs White said: "I used to have a Ford Fiesta but I got rid of it because there is not enough room. It just makes life awkward for people who live here."

"If you can afford a car you can afford a parking ticket."

Zac Grant of Lowell Street said: "Parking is an issue, it is terraced housing so it's not built to have all these cars."

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting reference 54S 310519.